Engine malfunction service now

[Orsm99]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the long message.

Looking for any advice/help/tips

I have a 2014 Diesel - Focus Zetec Sport 2.0 TDCI

Approximately 2 years ago the yellow warning light popped up on the dash "Engine Malfunction service now" - Car would go into limp mode and really struggle above 3000 revs, at the time I could turn the car off wait a minute or two and the warning light would go and there were no issues, sometimes it would happen again but not straight away.

At the time I had a tuning box fitted to the car, This was from TDI-Tuning. Took the box off contacted them and they agreed to take the box back and reprogramme it. I had it fitted about 8 years prior to this error and never had any issues, took it off sent it back and waited for about a month for it to comeback, during this time I never had any issues with the turning box off the car. Box arrived, fitted - No issues.

Fast forward another two years, it has happened again. Same issues again, waring information light in solid orange, won't go above 3k revs can hardly get above 70MPH, Almost limp mode.

This time I can't get rid of it by turning it off and on, its normally fine the next day, it can happen 2 minutes into a journey, or it can happen 1hr into a journey, I have driven 3 hrs straight with no issues, stopped for an hour and driven back for 3 hours no issues. I can go for 2/3 weeks with no issues, then it would come back, so there is no real pattern.

I have taken the tuning box off and I still get the "Engine Malfunction service now" I have spoken to a tech guy from TDI-Tuning and he said "the tuning module cannot cause damage to the vehicle or the vehicle sensors etc, Even if the module were to completely fail this would at worst cause limp mode and an engine management light"  "You may have to get the vehicle plugged into a fault code reader to read the triggered faults and get these cleared manually"

About 4 weeks ago the car had completely died, could not turn it over, RAC come looked at the battery and said its done for and I need a new one, he also said I need the Alternator checked as it was showing a shorted diode, booked it into the garage and they confirmed the Alternator was overcharging the battery @ 15.02 volts and it needed replacing - So new battery and Alternator fitted. During the time at the garage they could not find any fault codes on the reader, if there were any everything was reset.

4 Weeks on from this I'm still getting the "Engine Malfunction service now" I have searched high and low on what it could be, most I've seen is get the codes checked, well there are none, I have the car boked in on Saturday for a mini service ( it had a Full service in July 2023)

One of the things I have asked the mechanic to do is change the 50amp mega fuse/circuit breaker in the High voltage junction box as I have seen that a cracked one of these can cause all sorts of issues and throw up the "engine malfunction service now message" not sure how true this is but thought its worth a shot.

I have booked the car into a Ford dealership for them to plug in their diagnostic kit to see if they can find previous fault codes (deleted and potentially ones that the garage could not see) 

I have also seen it might be worth getting ford to reprogramme the cars ECU with the original Map.

Has anyone seen this before, is there anything my mechanic should check on Saturday before I spend best part of £180 at Ford to put it on their diagnostic machine.

Thanks in advance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KenM]

For two years your car has been warning you that something is wrong and you have failed your car by neglecting to investigate the fault. You either pay Ford to investigate or you could possibly do it yourself with the help of Forscan which is completely free to use if you buy the connecting lead for about 30 odd quid. This will find the codes that other readers aren’t reading.

[DaveT70]

What are you using to read the codes?

You can't have warnings without codes.

Leave the tuning box in the bin

[DaveT70]

45 minutes ago, Orsm99 said:

I have also seen it might be worth getting ford to reprogramme the cars ECU with the original Map

Are you remapped AND using a tuning box then????? That's a no-no

[Orsm99]

1 hour ago, KenM said:

For two years your car has been warning you that something is wrong and you have failed your car by neglecting to investigate the fault. You either pay Ford to investigate or you could possibly do it yourself with the help of Forscan which is completely free to use if you buy the connecting lead for about 30 odd quid. This will find the codes that other readers aren’t reading.

Hi thanks for the response 🙂

I didn't say I left the errors for 2 years, 

Bought the car in 2014 - Fitted a tuning box - everything fine - 2022 first warning sign, took box off sent back to TDI-Tuning - everything fine whilst off for 1 month, box back on no issues > 2 years later (now) warning light appears again, took box off again but still getting errors, garage looked at codes and could not see any issues.

[Orsm99]

1 hour ago, DaveT70 said:

Are you remapped AND using a tuning box then????? That's a no-no

no remap, just a tuning box which is now off but still getting the error on the dash, my local garage said there were no codes when they plugged what ever device they use. If the tuning box has caused issues with the ECU, I'm sure i have seen a post somewhere saying Ford could do a software update and make sure any issues the tuning box has potentially caused could be reset.

[DaveT70]

Tuning boxes don't communicate with the PCM directly, they adapt the command from the PCM to the fuel rail to increase pressure.

Your software is standard and the overwritten software will also still be standard, but you'll be £150 down.

From having a box on so long, I would suspect you have an issue with the fuel rail pressure sensor or the high pressure pump.

As mentioned before, you can't have warnings without codes, so the code reader was no good.

Invest in a decent lead and set yourself up on FORScan and run some tests, it's a great tool (Dealer level) and will help you solve the issue

[Phantom76]

might be a long shot but i had the same issue last year, i would floor it and it would set off that warning, turn it of and o again and would work again, had it plugged in by ford to scan for codes and none found couldnt figure it out until i noticed the doubly clip on the throttle body was loose, tightened it up and not looked back, could check all pipes for leaks 

[Zen23]

I don't think basic scanner will show up Communication issues wich begins with "U". You need a Forscan to see the full picture. 

[DaveT70]

15 hours ago, Phantom76 said:

might be a long shot but i had the same issue last year, i would floor it and it would set off that warning, turn it of and o again and would work again, had it plugged in by ford to scan for codes and none found couldnt figure it out until i noticed the doubly clip on the throttle body was loose, tightened it up and not looked back, could check all pipes for leaks 

Yes, good point

[Orsm99]

Thanks for the help and info so far, I bought a lead yesterday and it arrived this morning, downloaded FORScan and plugged it in this morning. One code has podded up (see in the pictures)

Code is - U0120 - Lost communication with starter / Generator control module.

Bit more info if this hopefully solves the issue.

7th Feb - Hit a massive pothole - Needed new tyre.

14th Feb - Booked into garage to check any damage caused by pothole - Left garage after no issues found - Few hours later  "engine malfunction service now light appears" the warning light appears a couple of times - Loss of power - limit to 3k revs - almost limp mode. Happens a few times leading up to 1st April, coil pack light appears once or twice for a few seconds along with the engine light, again nothing staying on for no longer than a few seconds. Speak with garage and book it in to be looked at.

1st April - battery dead and alternator showing shorted Diode. New battery and new alternator fitted

About a week after new alternator and battery the "Engine malfunction service now light appears" - A week after that the battery light briefly comes on for about 60 seconds then goes off.

12th April - Car back in garage to check the Alternator and battery again - everything is ok. They plug their computer in no codes found.

3rd May - Battery light on again, but only for a second or two.

Engine malfunction service light has appeared 3/4 times since the 12th April.

I have it booked in again on Saturday, will tell them the new fault code, Is this "Engine malfunction service now" light appearing because the above fault code has not been deleted/reset ?

Shall I delete this code ?

Thnaksfor any help 🙂 

 

[Phantom76]

might be a silly question but have you reset the battery after changing it ??

[Orsm99]

5 minutes ago, Phantom76 said:

might be a silly question but have you reset the battery after changing it ??

I personally have not reset anything, I would not know how to, RAC changed the battery, the garage fitted a new alternator, not sure if either did, I did not know it needed to be reset and did not ask -  I am assuming the garage would have, I can only ask.

[Phantom76]

you can do it yourself 

get into the car and  make sure doors are closed 
turn ignition on
flick full beam 5 times then tap on the break 3 times 
wait up to 30 secs while watching the battery light, when it blinks at you the battery has been reset successfully
give it a go and see if it makes any difference 
this also fixes the start stop function in your car if fitted  

[Zen23]

Don't delete the codes. Mechanic needs it to find the issue.  To reset BMS 

 

[Orsm99]

6 minutes ago, Phantom76 said:

you can do it yourself 

get into the car and  make sure doors are closed 
turn ignition on
flick full beam 5 times then tap on the break 3 times 
wait up to 30 secs while watching the battery light, when it blinks at you the battery has been reset successfully
give it a go and see if it makes any difference 
this also fixes the start stop function in your car if fitted  

Thanks for the info, my mechanic didn't change the battery, RAC did so unsure if RAC man reset it, My mechanic said he did not, but can do it on Saturday.

[Phantom76]

just be aware this might not be the issue so keep that in mind if your flying home saturday afternoon and you get the same fault 

just saying 

[Orsm99]

9 minutes ago, Zen23 said:

Don't delete the codes. Mechanic needs it to find the issue.  To reset BMS 

 

Thanks for the how to, Too late with the code... I've deleted the code and fault has not come back on the scan. The mechanic I use could not find any fault codes anyway with his diagnostic tool. Was this code (U0120) something to do with the battery not being reset in the first place? and the reason I got the engine malfunction service now ?

[KenM]

This could be a bad connection or damages cable to the alternator, or a faulty alternator although they say they have checked it.

[Zen23]

Seems like it's a wiring issue as it says in the code- lost communication to PCM which is under left wing. So it's wiring tracing job alternator/starter to PCM/ECU.

You might have to carry laptop and the cable with you to catch the code when it's just happens before turning ignition off.

[Orsm99]

23 minutes ago, KenM said:

This could be a bad connection or damages cable to the alternator, or a faulty alternator although they say they have checked it.

Hi, it was a brand new alternator and brand new battery, I believe the old alternator had a shorted diode and was over charging the battery at 15.02. I've just reset the BMS myself as I dont think RAC or garage did it as RAC Changed the battery and Garage fitted a new Alternator.

Could the code on Forscan be because the BMS was not reset ?

And do you know if the engine malfunction service would appear if it was due to the alternator on  its way out ?

[Orsm99]

23 minutes ago, Zen23 said:

Seems like it's a wiring issue as it says in the code- lost communication to PCM which is under left wing. So it's wiring tracing job alternator/starter to PCM/ECU.

You might have to carry laptop and the cable with you to catch the code when it's just happens before turning ignition off.

Car drives/starts fine and I get no warning lights apart from the battery light coming on for seconds then going off again, this has happened twice in 4/5 weeks.

When I get the engine malfunction service now warning light is that what the stored code was likely referring to ?

[Phantom76]

battery light flickering sounds like a wiring issue, id check mechanic tightened all connections and get alt tested 
electrical issues can cause all sorts of funky problems 

[Zen23]

Some of the codes will be stored in the memory even without lights coming on. Forscan will tell you which code cause the light to pop up and which not. And in a freez frame tell you all the details when it happened and in what condition. 

As it's been said before wiring and connectors needs checking. 

If you have multimeter you can check the charging voltage. 

[KenM]

A new faulty alternator is not that uncommon. But I think you need to check the wiring from the alternator to the pcm.